WO2004084164A1

WO2004084164A1 - Display system

Info

Publication number: WO2004084164A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/000357
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Gordon Keir Guthrie
Original assignee: Wireless Displays Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-03-21
Filing date: 2004-03-22
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Also published as: AU2003901327A0

Abstract

A method of displaying advertising material including: (a) transmitting by wireless transmission from a master control means (30) into a recording (means), in a screen control means (32) remote from said master control means (30), electronic data containing information for images to be displayed on a display screen (42), (b) storing said electronic data in said recording means (40), (c) transmitting by wireless transmission from the master control means (30) to the screen control means (32), at a time independent from that when the image data is transmitted, instructions for: selection of chosen images from those recorded in the recording means (40), commencement time and duration of displaying said selected images on the display screen (42), and (d) displaying the selected images on the display screen (42) at the time and for the duration specified in the transmitted instructions.

Description

DISPLAY SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

This invention concerns the use of screens for out-of-home display advertising. It is particularly applicable to the use of large format flat panel LCD, LED, or gas plasma screens for advertising displays.

The invention has particular application to display advertising on the walls of buildings, such as walls inside car parks at regional shopping centres for example, and provides particular advantages in relation to making possible real-time analysis of effectiveness of the advertising.

Background to the Invention

In order to create more impressive display advertising, with a greater impact on the audience, it would be desirable to make greater use of complex moving images, rapid changes of the image viewed, more sophisticated animation and the like. While these are commonplace on television and personal computer games, they can be difficult to reproduce on screens which are distant from the control centre from which the advertising content and scheduling information is controlled.

In order to provide optimal programming and attractive complexity of images on the screens, large amounts of data need to be sent to the screen. This can be achieved by either a fixed cabling system or by wireless transmission. By using a cabled data transmission and appropriate hardware, the images could be readily transmitted from a centralised control facility to the screens in real time. But it is desirable to be able to put such displays on to walls or into elevated positions where there is no ready access to data cabling and where it is expensive to retrofit such data cabling to the relevant building. Typical of such situations would be the wall spaces of car parks in large retail shopping centres. The fixed location of the cabling would also limit later relocation of the screens. Also, the data transmission system would become particularly complex and require a large capacity if the operator wished to run different advertising programmes on each of many screens.

As an alternative to a cabled system, a wireless data transmission system could be used. But to provide real time broadcasting of the advertising material, providing the necessary bandwidth for the desired data would be very expensive and complex, particularly if there are a multitude of different displays in a shopping system all displaying different advertising material.

An aim of some embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method and equipment which in use can overcome, or at least reduce, these difficulties.

There is a desire by advertisers to be able to monitor in real time whether their advertisements are in fact being displayed in the manner and at the time that they have contracted for the display. The advertising industry uses a technique termed "post-analysis" whereby an advertising company provides a client with some proof that the advertising paid for actually took place. For example the advertising company may provide clippings from publications, or photographs of billboards while the advertising is affixed, as proof of delivery but often the advertiser still cannot be sure whether the period of display is as claimed by the advertising company. Also there is an undesirable lag between the actual advertising and the provision of confirmation or proof. An improved system of monitoring is desired.

An aim of some embodiments of the present invention is to provide a means by which persons paying for advertising can check in real time whether the advertising services are in fact being delivered.

There is presently a range of means by which advertisers can monitor the response of their target consumers to the advertising. This may be by analysing spending patterns or by having observers watching physical responses of target consumers to the presence of certain advertising material being exposed to the consumers. Sometimes sales are monitored in different locations following different locally targeted advertising. Systems are available for real-time monitoring of in-home television viewing but there is a need for an ability to analyse an audience's exposure and responses to out-of-home advertising in real time. There is a need for an advertiser to have an ability to actually observe the number of consumers exposed to the advertising, determine some demographic breakdown data of those consumers, and gauge consumers' responses to the advertisements at the time of, or immediately after, the advertising.

An aim of some embodiments of the present invention is to provide a means by which persons paying for advertising can gather data on the number, type and behaviour of persons exposed to the advertising.

Summary of the Invention

In one aspect the invention provides a method of displaying advertising material including:

(a) providing:

- a display screen, - a screen control means including a recording means,

- a master control means remote from said screen control means, and

- a wireless transmission means for transmitting data from the master control means to the screen control means,

(b) transmitting from the master control means into the recording means electronic data containing information for images to be displayed on the screen,

(c) storing said electronic data in said recording means,

(d) transmitting from the master control means to the screen control means, at a time independent from that when the image data is transmitted, instructions for:

- selecting images from those recorded in the recording means, - commencement time and duration of displaying said selected images on the screen (e) displaying the selected images on the display screen at the time and for the duration specified in the transmitted instructions.

In another aspect the invention provides a method of displaying advertising material including:

(a) transmitting by wireless transmission from a master control means into a recording means, in a screen control means remote from said master control means, electronic data containing information for images to be displayed on a display screen,

(b) storing said electronic data in said recording means,

(c) transmitting by wireless transmission from the master control means to the screen control means, at a time independent from that when the image data is transmitted, instructions for:

- selection of chosen images from those images recorded in the recording means,

- commencement time and duration of displaying said selected images on the display screen, and (d) displaying the selected images on the display screen at the time and for the duration specified in the transmitted instructions.

Preferably the display screen is a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display, or gas plasma display screen, or an LED display screen.

The wireless transmission may be by way of a transmitter and receiver operating through a conventional mobile phone or cell phone network. In this way, many display screens may be controlled from a central control room many kilometres distant from the actual display area. Computer files of the advertising material to be displayed would be uploaded to the recording means by way of the telephone signal. Alternatively the transmitter and receiver may operate by means of a WiFi communication link according to the IEEE Wirless Standard 802.11 for WiFi Internet Distribution on a LAN type connection. This may be according to Standard 802.11 (11 mbps) or 802.1 Ig (54 mbps).

A major advantage of such an embodiment of the invention is that the computer files which provide the image data need to be transmitted only once over the wireless communication system and when these are loaded onto the hard disk or other memory device in the screen control, the only information that then needs to be transmitted to the screen control is the relatively small amount of data which specify the starting times for any given advertisement and the duration for which it is displayed. The duration of a movie or animated type of advertisement would normally set by the time taken for the image sequence to conclude from start to finish. However for a still image or series of still images, the duration of (each) image frame would be transmitted.

There is accordingly a clear separation in time, perhaps by many weeks, between transmitting the image data and transferring the scheduling data. This "phase shifting" of the data provides substantial advantages.

A benefit of transmitting the necessary data via a cell phone telephone connection is that the infrastructure for such transmissions is already in place, relatively cheaply available over a wide geographic area, and is accessible in the places where the advertising displays would be set up.

A benefit of transmitting the data via a WiFi connection is the lower operating costs because cell phone call charges are not incurred.

The images can be static or moving, and can include animated graphics or any other visual representation technique and audio as desired. The system could be controlled from a central computer bank and communicate with a relatively simple computer device via a modem at each advertising site. Such an advertising site may be an individual screen or may be several screens linked via computer to give a composite image.

The area or spatial region from which the images on the display screen may be viewed may be itself the subject of a camera surveillance in order to determine the number and type of people being exposed to the advertising material and the degree of attention being paid to the screen by those people, ie determine the effectiveness of the advertising material. Accordingly, the spatial region from which said images on the display screen may be viewed may be subject to camera surveillance in order to monitor the effectiveness of the advertising material being displayed, by:

(a) recording an image including said spatial region,

(b) analysing the image electronically to assess the number of people in the region, and

(c) analysing the image to either assess the degree of attention being paid to the screen by said people, or assess the gender and/or age distribution of the people in the region.

The camera surveillance may include a view of the screen itself in order to confirm the selected images are being displayed at the time.

The output from the surveillance camera or cameras may be fed to an Internet upload device so that the camera image may be remotely viewed from any location via the Internet in real time. This would provide a means by which paying advertisers could confirm that the advertising service for which they are paying is in fact being performed and also gauge the exposure to, and response from, passers by. In this way an assessment of advertising effectiveness which was previously only available from a post-analysis can now be performed as a real-time analysis.

It will be understood that the term "real time" as used in this specification means immediately of nearly immediately, the delay being only that inherently required for transmission of data and its conversion to images viewed for example on the Internet. Typically such delay is no more than a few seconds. The camera for such surveillance of the spatial region may be set a considerable distance from the display screens in order to access suitable electrical power and communication wiring, and use telephoto lenses to gain an appropriate image from such extended distance.

Alternatively, the display screen may have the monitoring camera incorporated into the body of the screen so that separately installed cameras are not required. The images from the camera may be stored as a series of still images and transmitted back to the base station at a suitable time which may be at the same time that additional image data or timetabling data is being transmitted.

A camera performing said surveillance may be incorporated into a housing containing the screen, or may be held by an arm which protrudes from a housing containing the screen.

The image including said spatial region may be stored in the screen control means and later transmitted from the screen control means to the master control means by wireless transmission.

When used on the walls of car parks for example, the displays have the ability to brighten up what can be rather drab areas in a shopping centre.

In another aspect the invention provides a method of monitoring the effectiveness of advertising material being displayed on a display screen, said method comprising:

(a) recording an image of a spatial region from which people can view the advertising material,

(b) analysing the image electronically to assess the number of people in said region, and (c) reporting the results of said assessment. The image may be analysed to assess the gender and/or age distribution of the people in the region, and/or the degree of attention being paid to the screen.

The image may be recorded as a series of still images at a fixed frequency or the recording may be triggered by a motion or proximity detection device.

The analysis may provide an assessment of the number of people passing the screen display and whether they stop to more closely observe the screen or otherwise just pass by.

Preferably the images are stored in the screen control means and are transmitted from the screen control means to the master. control means by wireless transmission such as through a conventional cell phone network or by a WiFi uplink. The images may then be analysed distant from the display screens and the analysis interpreted to give the desired information on a measure of the effectiveness of the advertising.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In order that the invention may be more fully understood there will now be described, by way of example only, features of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings where:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic layout of a display advertising system incorporating one embodiment of the present invention, and

Figure 2 is a more detailed layout of part of the system shown in Figure 1.

Description of Examples of the Invention

Referring to Figure 1, a master control 30 communicates separately with each one of many display assemblies 11 to 23 which are located at five geographically separated shopping centres 41 to 45. Shopping centre 41 has five display units identified by numbers 11 to 15. Shopping centre 42 has four display units identified by numbers 16 to 19. Shopping centre 43 has two display units identified by numbers 20 and 21. Centres 44 and 45 have only one display unit each respectively 22 and 23. The shopping centres 41 to 45 are distributed many kilometres from the master control unit 30 and the master control unit may even be interstate or in an overseas location. The communication between the master control unit 30 and the display screens 11-23 makes use of readily available cell phone communications. Any suitable provider of a cell phone service may be selected.

Referring to Figure 2, the display assembly 15 consists of a screen control 32 (represented by the components in the inner dashed rectangle) having a central processing unit (CPU) 34 hard wired to each of a video card 36, cell phone communicator 38 and hard disk memory 40. The video card 36 is in turn hard wired to a display screen 42. In this embodiment the screen 42 is a plasma screen which can be selected from any of the conventionally available sizes but is preferably one of the larger sizes (in the order of 61 inch diagonal) with an aspect ratio of 9:16. The display screen 42 is housed within an appropriate housing 44 which is robustly constructed to minimise vandalism, and the components of the screen control 32 are also mounted within that housing to together form the display assembly 15.

Mounted within the housing 44, and hard wired to the CPU 34, is a camera 20 the lens of which is outward looking from the front of the screen 42. This provides an image of the region in front of the screen and thus of the passing people exposed to the advertising material on the screen.

An additional camera 46 is mounted in order to provide a view of the actual screen 42. This provides post analysis evidence of the advertising material being displayed. The camera 46 may be mounted distant from the housing 44 or alternatively may be mounted on the housing 44 and have a lens system which corrects the extreme parallax distortion of the screen image when viewed from such a close position. Instead of using two cameras, a single camera may provide both views if a prism is installed adjacent the lens in order to provide an image of the screen as an inset to the main view of the spatial region containing the audience seen through the camera. An operator at the master control 30 decides well in advance what content of images, and optionally sound, will be required to be displayed over a suitable future period at the display unit. That content material is embedded into computer files which are then transmitted by a cell phone transmission to the cell phone communicator in the screen control. The communication link is made and the data transferred by conventional modem technology. The incoming information is processed by the CPU 34 and stored as appropriate computer files on the hard disk 40. A large choice of advertising material can thus be stored on the hard disk for access as required.

When an appropriate timetable or schedule of advertising material is decided, a timetable or scheduling file is transmitted, again by cell phone communication, to the CPU 34 and this file is then used to access the appropriate program material from the hard disk, process it through the CPU and video card 36 and send it to the display screen 42 at the required time and for the required period.

In the preferred embodiment the camera 20 records a spatial region (geographic area) in front of the screen 42 where the screen contents are readily viewed by a passing audience. Images of the region are recorded not continuously as this would yield too much image information for storage. Instead, a still image is recorded once every fixed time period, say every 60 seconds or 2 minutes and that single frame of image is recorded on the hard disk memory in the screen control unit 32. After a suitable period, those images are transmitted to the master control by way of the cell phone link which may be connected specifically for that purpose or may be connected also for the uploading of scheduling information from the master control 30 to the screen control 32. Alternatively the cell phone apparatus in the screen control may dial out to an assessment centre which is independent of the master control and upload the images saved from the camera to that site.

The images may be analysed to determine the number of people in the scene, their age, gender and whether they stopped to view the screen or passed quickly by. This data may be linked to information regarding the advertising material which is being screened on the screen at the particular time. The screen control may also include a means for detecting the presence of one or more persons within the region of interest and of recording that presence independently of the taking and storage of images of the region. Thus the presence of people may be recorded (and counted) independently of whether they are viewable in the stored images.

It can be seen that the hard disk memories at each display unit 11-23 may hold identical program information but each of the display units at any shopping centre may be displaying a different program of information because they have each received different timetables or program files.

As an alternative to using hard disks for storing the program information, the program information may be alternatively embedded into any other suitable data storage device such as memory chips.

As an alternative to the cameras 20 and 46 being fitted to the display housing and feeding its signal back to the CPU, one or more cameras may be separately wired in order to provide a continuous output as an image to the Internet, in the manner of what is generally known as a web-cam. In this way real time checks can be made on the images being displayed on the screen and on the nature of the people viewing the screen.

The camera 20 looks outwards from the screen and provides two distinct functions. It provides images taken at given intervals which allows the audience to be analysed by numbers and other characteristics. It is also set to capture an image or images of anyone who approaches the screen closer than a set distance. It will thus record anyone attempting to damage or deface the assembly 15.

The camera 46 provides an image of whatever is displayed on the screen and provides two distinct functions. When the view seen by the camera is streamed direct to the Internet, it provides a means of quality control, as at any time, a client paying for an advertising program can check in real time whether the program is being carried out as specified. Also the images stored from the camera provide proof of delivery of the contracted advertising and evidence for real time analysis of the advertising campaign.

The display screen of the invention may also provide a degree of interactivity with passing viewers. As the screen has the capacity to send and receive cell phone messages, it may be configured to acknowledge on the screen that a phone message has been received from a person viewing the screen. Thus the screen could display a particular advertisement and invite viewers to respond by telephoning a number assigned to the phone connection in that screen. There would be an immediate response on the screen confirming receipt of the message (which could be an order for the product advertised, or entry to a competition, for example) and the necessary data would be stored in the memory of the screen control hard disk for later downloading by the master control. The provision of the cell phone connection in the screen control hardware thus allows the screen to provide a confirmatory image to the viewer without needing the complexity of a real time connection between the master control and the screen control.

Whilst the above description includes the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that many variations, alterations, modifications and/or additions may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts described without departing from the essential features or the spirit or ambit of the invention.

For example, although the invention is described as being particularly applicable to large format flat panel LCD, LED or gas plasma screens, it is also applicable with any other type of display screen (eg CRT) or matrix of screens to produce a single image larger than each individual screen. Also, although the preferred embodiment described utilises large format screen of about 61 inch diagonal sizing, any other sized screen (including 42 inch) may be used depending on the individual circumstances. Also, in an alternative embodiment encompassed by the invention part of the function of the master control 30 as previously described is carried out at a central location at each shopping centre. In this embodiment a computer having the function of a "content manager" is located at each shopping centre and this content manager in turn distributes data to (and receives data from) many "media engines" which are similar to the display assembly 15 described above and are distributed around the shopping centre. The content manager stores images and receives scheduling information by means of hard wired telephone or cable connection, and then passes that information to the media engines by means of wireless communication, preferably using a WiFi local area network system. Each media engine performs the scheduling for its own display.

Although the invention is described with particular reference to displaying advertising on the walls of buildings such as car parks, it is also applicable to displaying non-advertising material and in other places such as health clubs and in- store at supermarkets. Also, the display screens do not need to be mounted on a wall; they may be free-standing for example and may be single-faced or housed back to back to produce a double-sided display.

It will be also understood that where the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", are used in this specification, unless the context requires otherwise such use is intended to imply the inclusion of a stated feature or features but is not to be taken as excluding the presence of other feature or features.

Claims

1. A method of displaying advertising material including: (a) transmitting by wireless transmission from a master control means into a recording means, in a screen control means remote from said master control means, electronic data containing information for images to be displayed on a display screen, (b) storing said electronic data in said recording means, (c) transmitting by wireless transmission from the master control means to the screen control means, at a time independent from that when the image data is transmitted, instructions for:

- selection of chosen images from those images recorded in the recording means, - commencement time and duration of displaying said selected images on the display screen, and (d) displaying the selected images on the display screen at the time and for the duration specified in the transmitted instructions.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said wireless transmissions are by way of a transmitter and receiver operating through a conventional mobile phone or cell phone network.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said wireless transmissions are by way of a transmitter and receiver operating by means of a WiFi distribution on a LAN type connection under IEEE Wireless Standard 802.11.

4. A method according to any one of the previous claims wherein a camera directed at the display screen records images displayed on the display screen.

5. A method according to claim 4 wherein said images of the display on the display screen are broadcast on the Internet in real time.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein a spatial region from which said images on the display screen may be viewed is subject to camera surveillance in order to monitor the effectiveness of the advertising material being displayed, said method further comprising:

(d) recording an image including said spatial region,

(e) analysing the image electronically to assess the number of people in the region, and

(f) analysing the image to assess the degree of attention being paid to the screen by said people.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein a spatial region from which said images on the display screen may be viewed is subject to camera surveillance in order to monitor the effectiveness of the advertising material being displayed, said method further comprising:

(a) recording an image including said spatial region,

(c) analysing the image to assess the gender and/or age distribution of the people in the region.

8. A method according to claim 6 or 7 wherein said image including said spatial region also includes a view of said display screen in order to confirm said selected images are being displayed at the time. >

9. A method according to claim 6 or 7 wherein a camera performing said surveillance is incorporated into a housing containing the screen.

10. A method according to claim 6 or 7 wherein a camera performing said surveillance is held by an arm which protrudes from a housing containing the screen.

11. A method according to any one of claims 6 to 10 wherein said image including said spatial region is stored in the screen control means and is transmitted from the screen control means to the master control means by wireless transmission.

12. A method of displaying advertising material including:

(a) providing:

- a display screen,

- a screen control means including a recording means,

- a master control means remote from said screen control means, and - a wireless transmission means for transmitting data from the master control means to the screen control means,

(b) transmitting from the master control means into the recording means electronic data containing information for images to be displayed on the screen, (c) storing said electronic data in said recording means,

- selecting images from those recorded in the recording means, - commencement time and duration of displaying said selected images on the screen

(e) displaying the selected images on the display screen at the time and for the duration specified in the transmitted instructions.

13. A method of monitoring the effectiveness of advertising material being displayed on a display screen, said method comprising:

(c) reporting the results of said assessment.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein said image is analysed to assess the gender and/or age distribution of the people in the region.

15. A method according to claim 13 or 14 wherein said image is analysed to assess the degree of attention being paid to the screen by the people in the region.

16. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 15 wherein said image is recorded as a series of still images at a fixed frequency.

17. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 15 wherein the recording of said image is triggered by a motion or proximity detection device.

18. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 17 wherein said analysis provides an assessment of the number of people passing the screen display and whether they stop to more closely observe the screen or instead just pass by.

19. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 18 wherein said images are stored in the screen control means before being transmitted from the screen control means to the master control means by wireless communication transmission, and the images are then analysed distant from the display screen and said analysis interpreted to give a measure of said effectiveness of advertising.